gpsiir

Did something really stupid last night, I took my TSX out in a blizzard last night (didn't think it was snowing that bad....) Wow! No problems handling the 4+ inches of snow on the ground (with Continental ContiExtremeContact tires, the stock rubber sucked so I replaced 'em). The VSA light came on a lot, and I never had problems keeping control of the car. Several SUV's that were out weren't fairing all that well. The HID's *really* made a difference in the blowing snow. There were cars/trucks/SUV's that I was passing, and you could easily see that their lights were causing a big bright blinding blur (say that three times ;-) in front of the cars, causing the drivers to slow down in order to see/feel the road. I'd guess the color and beam shape of the TSX's HID's really makes a difference in this kind of blowing snow conditions 'cause I could see just fine most of the time. I've got the 'fogs on my car as well, and they helped a bit as well... but the HID's made the biggest difference I sure. I have a 4Runner, but I'm glad I didn't take it out last night, I've had it out in blowing snow, and the headlights/foglights really blind you. Have to imagine that if I had good snow/ice tires on this car, I'd rarely get out my 4Runner.

Meteor Silver TSX 5A with Navi

Dan Martin

I chickened out this morning after we got 15cm of snow last night and took the Volvo XC70 into work. The TSX is good in the snow but AWD with snow tires is hard to beat. I do agree with your comments on lighting. The Volvo's HID's aren't nearly as good as the TSX.

osubuckeye98

the stock michellins do a good job when going straight in the snow and slush, but the minute I turn all hell breaks loose...well, at least the tires do. How did the conti-extremes perform in turns? I'm thinking of changing to those as well. Are they loud on dry pavement? I imagine the wet weather traction must be good too.

dom

Dan your in T.O Right? What 15cm's? Its snowing now but I got nothing where I live last night?

gpsiir

No problems on the turns, better than the michellins, the conti's seem quieter than the michellins to me (after I had put about 500 miles on them). One small sour note on the conti's, they develope a "flat spot" when sitting overnight, which means that when you first take off the tires feel a bit "out of balance" (think there is a word for this condition, can't remember what it is). After 3 miles or so, they smooth out.

Dan Martin

I'm in west Mississauga and there was at least 15 to 20cm on my street. I was pushing cars this morning because I live on a court and no plows have come down the street in weeks. The snow last night was pretty fluffy but there is a really slippery base that a lot of the cars were having trouble with.

There seems to be some really isolated snow storms in the area because burlington is sunny this morning with no snow at all. Some of east Mississauga got 10 to 15cm before midnight last night and nothing today. Wierd stuff....

dom

No wonder the City of Mississauga has no debt, they don't plow the streets.

xizor

Took mine out last night for fun after 5in of snow and little plowing and had a blast (pic of my car )

I was really impressed, the VSA really helped to keep the car going straight even when slipping. The car felt in control all the time and I was getting driving up to the speed limit w/o even noticing how fast I was going. Then when I started power sliding and doing 180's I had to turn it off as it was really killing my fun.

osubuckeye98

gpsiir, did you trade your Michellins in or did you have to buy a brand new set and discard the stocks? Where'd you get them?Seems like it'd be a waste to just toss practically new tires. I only have like 382 miles on mine right now.

Thanks,
SB

zamboni386

Im thinking of getting new rubber for my tsx. you said u have Continental ContiExtremeContact tires. I was wondering how much better are they than the pilot MXHX stock crap. I hear they are pretty cheap compared to others. Do they offer alot better handling and traction? How is the ride comfort as well? is there less torque steer?

gomez_regina

Hey Dan & Domn...

Have they called in the army yet to help deal with the snow in Toronto? Ha ha ha!!!

Sorry...I'm too busy plugging away through the -47C Windchill here in Regina to worry about snow...you guys DO know where Regina is right? (I'm just buggin' ya of course!!!)

gpsiir

"gpsiir, did you trade your Michellins in or did you have to buy a brand new set"

Got about a $250 trade in on the Michellins. Made it much less painful to upgrade from the Michellins, I think my total cost was around $200 with the trade. BTW, I also looked at the Pirelli P-Zero Nero M+S, which have possibly better characteristics, but they didn't have 'em in the P215 50R17 size (P215 45R17 was the closest).

zamboni386: In the snow the Conti's are way better than the stock rubber (that isn't an opinion, that's fact 'cause I had the michellins in a couple inches of snow and could barely move trying to get out of my house. The VSA was working over-time, but it can't completely compensate for crappy tires). Ride comfort seems to be about the same, I've never noticed any torque steer with either tires, so I can't say. I do believe that the conti's are quieter, once they are "broken in". That last is subjective, as I didn't have a sound meter....

osubuckeye98

Just one last question...Where'd you get them? Online or local dealer? Thanks!!

gpsiir

Um, assuming this isn't breaking any forum rules (and if it is, I apologize), Discount Tire.

Dan Martin

Unless you work for Discount Tire then there's nothing wrong with that.

Terry

Four inches of fresh snow on the ground last night. Drove home from work with no problems, until I hit the one steep hill. Made two runs at it, was unable to make it uo to the top. Turned off VSA, made a third and successful summutting.

acfanatic

We just had our first real winter storm. So far I've driven on snow and ice and, even with the stock tires, I haven't really been having any trouble. Such a huge improvement over my '97 Integra in the snow. I love the VSA.